The Relationship between Feminism and Gender Equality

There are many feminist theories, which can be summed up in one sentence: to achieve gender equality for all mankind. Looking at feminist theories, some are as intense as fire, some as calm as water, some advocate fighting to the death, and some agree with compromise, but all feminist theories have a basic premise, that is, women are an oppressed and discriminated class all over the world, which is said by Beauvoir, a leading feminist.

Women's secondary sexual characteristics are so common and persistent. In such a cross-historical and cross-cultural ubiquitous social structure, women are in an unequal position with men in political, economic, cultural, ideological, cognitive, conceptual and ethical fields, and even in private fields such as family. According to the patriarchal ideology, this kind of gender order that men are superior to women is not only universal, but also will not change because it is naturally formed; Feminism, on the other hand, believes that this gender order is neither universal nor unchangeable, because it is not "naturally formed" but artificially constructed by society and culture.

Men are also oppressed in different times and cultures, but they are oppressed because they belong to a certain class or stratum, not because they are men. On the other hand, women are oppressed simply because they belong to a certain class or stratum. The society forged by men regards women as inferior: she can only change her inferior position by challenging and changing men's superior position. There are many revolutions in history that challenge the ruling clique, but only feminism challenges the patriarchal system itself.

Feminist theory can be divided into macro theory and micro theory.

Feminist macro-theory includes some grand narratives to explain the world and history, such as the world system theory. This theory originally only divided the world into central region, semi-marginal region and marginal region, and analyzed the power relations among these regions, completely ignoring feminist factors. However, after the feminist transformation, some new theoretical points have been added, including that women are no longer only regarded as a member of the patriarchal family; No longer think that the interests of family members are always the same; This paper analyzes women's independent economic contribution and their roles as informal workers, domestic workers and food producers in the global economy.